Bland Chocolate
by AsianFlipGurl
Summary: The sweetest chocolate could not satisfy Pierre's Gourmet tastes. The blandest, tasteless, most unsweetened chocolate made from Lumina's heart was the only chocolate that Pierre wanted. Secret Santa Gift for chocokira07 again!


**Ironically enough, I got the same Secret Santee as last year: chocokira07. :) And again, I wrote a story about Pierre (IoH) x Lumina (HM:DS). I really struggled with it this year, but I finally came up with this. I had like, a million drafts that I wrote, and came back to the original plot bunny that I wrote. Hope it meets your standards! I apologize for the AU-ishness for most of the story, and it kinda gets really cheesy at the end. And also, if I talk about chocolate again, I may go crazy. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

* * *

He fell in love, he decided, when he saw her chocolate eyes sparkle underneath those too-long bangs. She smiled shyly, and Pierre's young heart throbbed.

Of course, the feeling was unrecognizable at such a young age, and Pierre immediately rejected it and faced forward. He appeared as if he was concentrating on the teacher's voice, but he was actually listening to the quiet lilts of _her_ voice as she answered a question about basic music theory. This was his least favorite class; he would have much rather been at lunch eating and conversing with his friends. From that say forth, it was safe to say that he definitely looked forward to that class more so than before.

* * *

She fell in love, she decided, when he blew his blond hair out of his face, revealing beautiful amethyst eyes. He did a little half-smile, and Lumina's young heart skipped a beat.

She wasn't a lonely girl, just a quiet one; she observed rather than experienced. She hadn't felt the need to be _his_ friend as much as anyone else's in the cafeteria. She giggled softly as he revealed three lunchboxes and was even more surprised when he finished it all and was begging his friends for more. But hey, they said food was the only way to a man's heart. She quietly observed him from her seat in the corner from then on.

* * *

He hated her, he determined, when she said that she did not want any of his fish that he brought for lunch one day.

Pierre caught her staring multiple times before, but he was always too nervous to say anything to her. They were polar opposites in his head; Lumina liked music and Pierre liked food. As a child, the things on the surface were all that mattered, but Pierre did not realize that opposites attract. So when his pride was immediately shut down when she refused his offering and claimed that she liked chocolate instead, Pierre completely shut down his unknown love for her.

* * *

She hated him, she determined, when he spilled orange juice all over her music sheets.

Why couldn't he have spilled the orange juice on her math homework or something? Music was her escape, her poison, and her passion. But Pierre knew that. She had caught him staring every time they were in music class, but Lumina had always nonchalantly brushed it off. So when Pierre "accidentally" spilled juice on her music sheets and didn't even apologize for it, oh baby it was on.

* * *

He helped her, he concluded, when she was being teased by numerous boys in their class.

Pierre knew that they all liked her. Boys sometimes gossiped more than girls did. But he couldn't very well allow Lumina to withstand some of the teases that these childish boys were making toward her at recess. Besides, it was Pierre's job, and his job only, to be the only one who got to bother Lumina like that on a daily basis. After some yelling and pushing, Pierre offered a watery-eyed Lumina a tissue before running into the little boy's bathroom. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, of course.

* * *

She helped him, she concluded, when he was being controlled by the other girls in the class.

Crushes on boys were inevitable at this age, and Pierre was not excluded from possibly every girl's heart. The girls had come up with this plan to make Pierre play the baby at a tea party, which was a _dreadful_ plan considering that playing the baby was Pierre's biggest pet peeve. Seeing Pierre's desperation to get out of that Goddess-awful onesie, Lumina offered to take his place, to the dismay of many of the girls and to the happiness of Pierre. But when Pierre gave Lumina a fleeting kiss on the cheek for thanks and proceeded to run off with embarrassment evident on his own cheeks, Lumina would withstand torture for the next hour of recess.

* * *

He despised her, he resolved, when she rejected his proposal to go to the Winter Ball together in high school.

To Pierre, his suggestion consisted of cavemen-like grunts ending with a slightly intelligible "…Winter dance?" And Lumina's rejection consisted of a head somewhat cocked to her shoulder and eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Forget it!" he said, and stormed off in anger.

He despised her when she arrived in front of his house the day of the Winter dance with a stunning dress coupled with the same smile that made him fall in love with her in elementary school. And he despised himself even more for thinking that she was beautiful.

* * *

She despised him, she resolved, when he spit out the chocolate she had so carefully made the previous night.

It was Winter Thanksgiving, and Lumina had not properly thanked Pierre for helping her in primary school when he stood up to the other boys for teasing her. It was a small effort, but not a forgotten one. Plus, she surprisingly had so much fun with Pierre on the day of the Winter Ball. Who knew that someone who loved to eat so much could dance so heartily and for so long? His stamina was contagious, and she wouldn't have gone with any of the other stupid boys in her grade for the world.

With her thanks, she also hoped to end this weird love-hate relationship that they had with each other and hoped to actually become friends with him. She tasted the chocolate the previous night; it was a little bland, she had to admit, but hey it was the thought that counts right? Apparently it did not live up to the boy's standards. Angrily, she stormed off from him while Pierre, begging for forgiveness, followed close behind. But what Lumina did not know was that Pierre appreciated the effort and spent all night creating the best chocolates possible for her as a "late secret admirer gift" and put it in her locker the next day.

* * *

He comforted her, he resolved, when he was the only one who came to her piano recital.

Lumina's parents were too busy to involve themselves in her seemingly boring hobbies and social life, her friends had evidently forgotten, and Grandma Romana was too far away to attend. Lumina's heart swelled when she received the award for "Most Prominent Pianist" complemented with a plaque that revealed she won first place. She didn't want to get her hopes up that her parents were in the crowd but when she merely saw Pierre standing backstage with the biggest bouquet of Blue Magicgrass flowers, she couldn't hold back the tears and cried in his arms.

* * *

She comforted him, she resolved, when he received a decline from the culinary arts program at his dream school.

No one could tell what was wrong with him. His closest friends couldn't get Pierre out of the slump he was in because Pierre refused to tell anyone what was wrong. He had pushed Lumina away when she angrily stormed up to him and demanded that he tell her what was wrong. She was not upset that it happened, just disappointed because she thought that over the years, he had learned to trust _her_, of all people.

So she waited.

And one rainy day after school Pierre appeared on her doorstep, tears still apparent even with the pouring rain, and a letter of decline in his hand. She invited Pierre quickly in, drying him with an immense amount of towels, and she could not help but notice how much he had grown over the years. His eyes were blank and desolate, and she could not help the resolute feeling that she needed to return the same spark in his eyes that she had fallen in love with when they were children eating in the cafeteria.

She made him some hot chocolate, and when he tasted the blandness of the beverage, he couldn't help but smile at the effort only Lumina could make to being him out of his slump.

* * *

He missed her, he realized, when she left to get a superior education abroad.

After her high school graduation, it was decided by her parents that she leave in order to start a new life elsewhere. Their vision for Lumina was that she marry a rich man and live off of the inheritance that they would give her, if needed. But Pierre saw that she had so much more potential than just spending the rest of her time being a housewife.

On the day that she left, Pierre refused to leave his house. He refused to believe that she was leaving because in more ways than one, Lumina had managed to influence his life in countless ways. Pierre needed to stay grounded, and Lumina was and always had been his foundation. But she had called from the airport and with panic, Lumina begged him to come see her off.

He ran.

It was five minutes until Lumina needed to board the plane. Lumina noticed that Pierre had arrived without huffing and puffing, and she made the remark that he still possessed the same stamina from when he took her to the Winter Ball. She had tears in her eyes.

Pierre held her face in his hands, calloused from exposure to knives, heat, and food, and he whispered, "You've got a lot of potential, Lumina. Use it." And then he kissed her full on the lips.

Pierre did not know he was crying until she turned to board the plane, and the shape of her body was contorted by his tears.

* * *

She missed him, she realized, when she couldn't communicate with him anymore.

Lumina felt the kiss. She felt the sweetness of his lips and the warmth of his body as he pulled her toward his body. She had cried over it on the plane. But when she regained composure, she realized that it was impossible to hold him back from other women because she could possibly never see him again. Plus, she couldn't maintain a relationship overseas. She had enough trouble doing that when she was in the same vicinity of the person she was dating.

The first few times, Lumina could not hold herself back from writing letters to him. His responses were quick and efficient. She missed Pierre too much; it was obvious in the way he just seemed to come up in conversation when talking to her new friends or in the way that every simple little thing reminded Lumina of him. So finally, after much consideration, she cut off communication with Pierre.

* * *

He cared for her, he knew, when he could not move on from her.

Although Lumina did not reply anymore, Pierre still sent her letters once in a while with hope that she may answer. She didn't, of course. He moved to Sunshine Islands, a quiet area, where he was never home because of his search for new and exotic ingredients. He developed feelings for Natalie, who was cold first but warmed up to Pierre's jaunty attitude, but Pierre would never feel the same for her as he did for the girl that he fell in love with in grade school. Natalie's chocolate was too sweet.

* * *

She cared for him, she knew, when she still checked his letters.

Four years had passed. She completed her college experience abroad. She had dated around, but she only had little flings that lasted a few months, if any. It was safe to say that although Lumina was happy, she was a bit lonely, apart from her cat who kept her company. She had graduated as a Business major and a Music minor, and Lumina was on her way on obtaining a great job. However, she put her plans aside when Grandma Romana got terminally ill and needed a family member there. Since her parents were too busy, she volunteered and put her dreams on hold. When she moved, she could not read Pierre's letters which were still being sent to her address abroad. Nevertheless, she could not help but feel a swell of pride in her chest when she read in the newspaper that Pierre had become a world-renowned Gourmet.

* * *

He hated her, he determined, when he saw her for the first time in years.

Romana had invited everyone from those in Forget-Me-Not Valley, to those in Mineral Town, and even those all the way on Sunshine Islands for a Christmas party at her mansion for one night. Her lack of surprise on her face disclosed that she was expecting his presence. And that look all the more angered him. His jealousy even swelled when he saw a blond-haired male following Lumina with teasing remarks and Lumina lashing back but with a certain softness in her eyes. They used to be like that.

* * *

She hated him, she determined, when she saw him for the first time in years.

He had arrived to _her_ house, with Natalie like a decoration on _his_ arm, and he was angry at _her_? She was expecting some awkwardness and expected that Pierre had moved on, proven with the girl attached to his waist, but he had instead pulled her out in the cold in front of her fountain to "talk" to her. Instead, he started yelling and her, and the "talk" turned into a frustrated argument.

"The only reason why you like Rock is because _we_ acted like that!"

"What about you, huh? What about Natalie? What is the purpose of this argument if you've already moved on?"

"You don't get it, do you."

"What?"

"She was never you."

* * *

They loved each other, forever and ever,

when they were married; a tie never to be severed,

and sealed the deal with a kiss,

tasting bland chocolate on each other's lips.


End file.
